


The King's Sacrifice

by saisei



Series: My Halloween Fic [6]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Illegitimacy, Magic, ruthlessness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 17:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21182981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saisei/pseuds/saisei
Summary: Noct is Regis' heir, but not his firstborn child. Regis makes good use of his eldest. (Day 2 of FFXV Halloween, prompts "Blood" and "Supernatural Bloodlines")





	The King's Sacrifice

Magic is in the King's bloodline, but no one questions that Ignis wields it so well. He must receive the power from the King, as the Glaive do, or from Noct; there's nothing strange about that.

That the magic comes from Ignis, instead, and is given fully and selflessly to Noct is known only to the two of them, and the King. Had Noct not been injured, the strength he pulls from Ignis would have doubled his abilities; Regis mourns that lost potential, but he's thankful, after the attack, that he arranged to bring Ignis to court. The boy's conception was a mistake and his bastard birth remains a secret, but his mother had been pleased to relinquish him for a princely sum. An excellent investment, Regis thinks.

He gave the child to Scientia to raise as a servant to the Crown, and thanks to him he's never seen a hint of resentment or greed in Ignis. Ignis has never questioned why the King's magic flows to him as well. He loves Noct like a brother, and wishes only for him to be worthy of the crown and the ring and the crystal. 

That ferocious loyalty binds him to Regis as well, even after the Crown City falls and his life is forfeit.

The first time Regis sees Ignis after his death, Ignis is demanding the aid of the Lucii. He doesn't go so far as to claim a bloodright, which probably saves his life. The Lucii's human emotions burn away quickly in confinement; all they possess is a sense of justice, of rightness, and a pure, terrible rage. Ignis is impelled by his desperate need to save Noct, and offers his own life. The kings and queens are infuriated by his temerity but still can't bring themselves to slay one of their own, and Regis moves forward to speak for them.

"Your life I shall spare now," he says, feeling Ignis' agony through the ring, as Astral flame courses through him, seeking the true magic of the Lucis Caelums. "I will ask for it later in exchange."

"For Noct," Ignis says, incandescent, "anything," and he straightens, trembling with power. Regis hears and feels Ardyn's pity for him, for gaining the Lucii's favor.

Following the battle, the ring is dormant again, contact with the outside world cut off without a wearer. Still, Noct lives, which is paramount, as does Ignis, Regis supposes, though doubtless damaged.

But Ignis serves Noct despite his injuries, Regis sees when they meet the second time. Ignis stands with Noct in the Beyond, lending him strength as Noct assumes the weighty responsibility of his final destiny, his claim to the throne sealed by the Lucii with his lifesblood. As Noct faces Ardyn, Ignis is a fount of magic, swiftly replenishing what the ring devours.

_Now_, Regis commands, speaking through the ring to Ignis, who is bound to it and him still. He pulls on the bond formed by Ignis' vow as Noct willingly offers his life in return for the world. Regis anticipates resistance, and is prepared to be ruthless; enough years have passed, he thinks, that regrets might have taken root.

But Ignis had been raised well and he loves – oh, Regis can feel the fierce conflagration of it radiating from him, even in that empty place between life and death.

He witnesses his son – True King, Dawn King – banish Ardyn and with him the Scourge and the darkness. And he feels the instant of his death, as the ring becomes ash, the Lucii freed from their duty and prison. The last thing Regis is aware of is Ignis, burning in that place like the sun itself, pouring all the life he has left into Noct – Noct – _Noct_.

*

The world of the afterlife shifts like dreams and takes the form of familiar places as they were, as they should have been. Regis walks the halls of the Citadel; so do his ancestors, though they disperse to friends and families as time passes. There is no duty in this place, no ruler, only peace.

Of Ardyn and Ignis there are no traces, and Somnus speaks of this as he strolls with Regis in the courtyard, through dappled sunlight. "They both were mistakes," he says. "Elder brothers who were never meant to be, and with them gone balance has been restored."

Regis dislikes Somnus, who looks too much like his own beloved son, and does not appreciate the parallel between the Usurper and the bastard son he had, in his own way, cared for. But the gods are silent, sleeping, unanswering. Perhaps Somnus is right. Regis mourns his firstborn son – of course he does – but he has no regrets about sacrificing him so that Noct can restore the rule of Lucis, together with the dawn.

Noct is a good king, of that Regis is certain. Ignis, had he survived, would be proud.


End file.
